U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,347 to MacLean et al, 1997, discloses an electronic bottle cap comprising a housing that includes a power supply, an audible message reproducing means connected to a speaker, and a switch for closing a circuit upon removal of the cap from the bottle.
The device according to MacLean reproduces a prerecorded audible message right after the cap is removed from the vessel.
The drawback of the above device is the delivery of only one audible message. Besides, there is no possibility to set a time interval after removal of the cap from the vessel, at the end of which a message is delivered. The device according to MacLean does not provide a possibility to connect an audible message to the time of the day and to the length of the time interval after the previous cap closing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,586 to Dobbins, 1998, discloses a sound signaling cap comprising a housing with a power supply, an audible message reproducing means connected to a speaker, and a switch for closing a circuit upon removal of the cap from the bottle.
The device according to the patent above reproduces a prerecorded audible message right after the cap is removed from the vessel.
The device described above also has its limitations. It cannot reproduce different audible messages on each removal of the cap from the vessel, each time the same audible message is delivered. Besides, there is no possibility to set a time interval after removal of the cap from the vessel, at the end of which a message is delivered. Also, the device does not provide a possibility to connect an audible message to the time of the day and to the length of the time interval after the previous cap closing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,597 to Dobosi et al., 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,356 to Woodruff, et al., 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,842 to Gariepy, 2000, disclose devices in the form of a medicine bottle, containers or appliances having alarm devices or alarm systems that reproduce sound signals upon opening caps of such device. The limitation of all these devices is that it can reproduce only one type of a sound signal upon each opening of the cap.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a signaling cap able to reproduce new audible messages upon each removal of the cap from the vessel.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap with the possibility to set a length of the time interval after the removal of the cap from the vessel, at the end of which the next audible message is reproduced.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a connection of a reproduced audible message with the time of the day and the length of the time interval that passed after the previous opening of the cap.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the cap the description of which is given below.
The signaling cap according to the present invention comprises displaced in its housing an audible message reproducing unit connected to a speaker and to a power supply, a switch for locking the electric circuit upon the cap removal, and a former of an audible message number displaced in the housing. Audible message reproducing unit is operative to reproduce one of N audible messages recorded therein in accordance with an audible message number. The audible message reproducing unit is attached to the former of an audible message number. The power supply is connected to the audible message reproducing means and to the former of an audible message number via the switch.
Further, the signaling cap according to the present invention can be equipped by a timer displaced in the housing and operative upon voltage supply to form an interval of time with a length depending on an audible message number. The timer is connected to the audible message reproducing unit, to the former of an audible message number, and via the switch to the power supply.
Further, the signaling cap is equipped with an electronic clock displaced in its housing and connected to the power supply and to the former of an audible message number.
Further, the signaling cap according to the present invention is equipped by an additional timer displaced in its housing and connected to the former of an audible message number and to the power supply via the switch.
The introduction of the former of an audible message number with corresponding connections and the specificities of the audible message reproducing unit provide the delivery of a new audible message upon each successive cap removal from the vessel, because each time the power is supplied to the former of an audible message number it produces a new message number.
The introduction of the timer with corresponding connections provides the possibility to set a length of the pause before each message is delivered. Further, the introduction of the electronic clock or the introduction of the additional timer with corresponding connections provides a possibility to select a message for reproduction depending on the time of the day or on the time passed after the previous cap opening.